Skip to main content

Sword: O.176-1879

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Mount maker: Unknown
Blade maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

The blade, of watered crucible steel (Wootz), is curved and single edged with flat back. The iron hilt, of pistol-grip type, has short quillons with rounded terminals, long langets with stylised bud finials, a oval section grip bent over at the pommel and a double curved knucklebow with a scrolling finial. The hilt is chiselled and heavily gilt with animals in a landscape, including lions, antelope and birds. The scabbard is of wood covered with crimson velvet with a gold tape down the rear seam, two suspension loops and a long chape decorated en suite with the hilt

Legal notes

Given by Robert Taylor, MA

Measurements and weight

Blade Length: 79.5 cm
Overall Length: 92 cm
Weight: 845 g

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1879) by Taylor, Robert, MA

Dating

Circa 1600 CE - 1865 CE

Note

‘Belonged to the Nawab (printed ‘Ninvab, showing Cambridge 1879 was based on an ill-written MS) of Junjjur. The gold wrought mounts are Indian: more than 2 oz of gold was beaten on them in 1865’.

Components of the work

Scabbard composed of wood
Hilt composed of iron
Blade composed of steel

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 176
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

Inscription present: Blade signed ‘Asad Allah Isfahani’ in a cartouche.

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.176-1879
Primary reference Number: 160100
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 30 July 2021 Last processed: Tuesday 13 June 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Sword" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/160100 Accessed: 2024-11-12 23:54:45

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/160100 |title=Sword |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-12 23:54:45|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-160100

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...